NextGen: Revenge of the NextGen People

By Rachel Singer Gordon -- Library Journal, 5/15/2005

I admit it. I am a card-carrying member of the American Library Association (ALA). The other day, though, while editing newsletter articles and automatically running each ALA URL through makeashorterlink.com, I started thinking—again—about our associations and the apparent difficulty some leaders have in accepting this is the 21st century.

The flap over ALA president-elect Michael Gorman's "Revenge of the Blog People!" attack on bloggers (LJ 2/15/05, p. 44) shows that our words have the power to extend beyond our immediate library community. His comments were picked up and derided in heavily trafficked general venues.

Glenn Reynolds summed it up best on InstaPundit (instapundit.com/archives/ 021380.php), writing, "Honestly, all this does is give ammunition to the people who say that libraries and librarians are obsolete in the digital age." Since a good chunk of ALA's mission is to advocate for libraries, it is problematic when our top official-elect single-handedly alienates a vocal segment of the population.

This April, the Association of College and Research Libraries held a virtual online conference in conjunction with its biannual meeting—complete with live webcasts, virtual meeting rooms, discussions, and, yes, blogs updated by roving conference correspondents [see News, p. 18]. The Public Library Association's official and successful collaborative conference blog is a sure sign that the medium is here to stay. When Information Today expanded to blogging multiple conferences, attracting an extensive audience, it confirmed we can point to information-related organizations that do get it.

This profession's divided nature is evident when this very journal publishes articles on blogging and new uses for technology as well as Gorman's diatribe.

Unless ALA and its officials jump on the clue train and stop alienating members, ALA will find itself with fewer card-carrying members—and fewer participating members. When combined with NextGens' existing concerns about ALA's relevance, Gorman's "blog people" comments set us back remarkably. As Katie Dunneback writes on her blog, The Young Librarian (younglibrarian.blogspot.com/2005_02_01_younglibrarian_archive. html), "And people wonder why us young kids are cynical about ALA meeting our needs. With leaders like Gorman…."

Others went so far as to call for his resignation. Blake Carver, LISNews.com, Buffalo, NY, says, "They should tell Gorman to throw himself on his sword and step down. Not because of what he said but how he said it…at a time when a lot of us damn kids seem to see no value in ALA, they don't need this kind of PR. They need leadership that isn't seen as radical and technologically clueless."

While this seems excessive—the man is entitled to his opinions—these comments show the extent to which our associations' leaders sometimes seem alienated from the members they are supposed to represent, especially the new blood they are theoretically trying to court. So, what can ALA do to get the next generation on board? How about asking for, and listening to, their opinions?

I recently asked on nexgenlib-l what one thing ALA could do to show its relevance, which led to an example of electronic brainstorming at its finest. Christine Borne, senior librarian, Ocean County Library, Toms River, NJ, sparked the discussion by commenting, "I think the most important thing for ALA to do is not show its relevance to me but to people. Specifically, TV-watching people. Very simply, it needs to do a TV commercial. Not a dumb, corny, '@ your library' TV commercial but something slick and eye-catching from the Ad Council. Something that looks cool, doesn't look like it was done on a VHS camcorder, and maybe speaks to young people more than older people (if you believe that young people are more likely to 'drift' from libraries than older people)." Others jumped on the idea, providing creative examples of what such a commercial could look like and what ALA could do to promote libraries and librarians better to a new generation. ALA and other organizations need to solicit this type of input from fresh voices. How else will they find new ideas?

Problems arise when we insist on either/or in a both/and world. Why choose between blogs and printed texts? We can read both. Our library shelves have room for books and DVDs; we can use both Google and subscription databases; our associations have room to hear both experienced committee veterans and new professionals. From the greenest member to the uppermost officials, we all have the responsibility to think about keeping our profession relevant and heading forward. Let's harness our collaborative power, both online and off, and come together to tackle the issues facing us all.